IRS Written Determinations
Free IRS private letter rulings, technical advice memoranda, and Chief Counsel advice with plain-English summaries and the official IRS release on every page.
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PLR 200418024: Extension to file a nuclear decommissioning fund election
A corporate parent omitted a subsidiary's § 468A election statement and revised schedule of ruling amounts from the group's consolidated return for a year involving a nuclear decommissioning fund.…
PLR 200418023: S election relief after formation attorney missed the filing
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from its formation and hired an attorney to assist, but no Form 2553 was filed. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed…
PLR 200418022: Partnership's tax year change application treated as timely
A partnership wanted to change its 52-53 week tax year to match the year adopted by the corporate group to which its partners belonged. Following an acquisition and transfer of tax preparation…
PLR 200418021: More time to allocate GST exemption to a trust transfer
A taxpayer transferred a partnership interest to a trust for family members and reported the gift on Form 709. The accounting firm that prepared the return did not advise him to allocate his…
PLR 200418020: Stock purchase plan changes need no new option or shareholder vote
A corporation proposed changes to its employee stock purchase plan after a missed securities filing temporarily prevented it from using its registration statement to grant options or issue shares.…
PLR 200418019: Estate gets time to allocate GST exemption to two trusts
A settlor made gifts to two trusts for daughters and grandchildren, but the attorney who prepared the gift tax return failed to allocate the settlor's generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption…
PLR 200418018: Public entity insurance company's income excluded from tax
A nonprofit captive insurance company owned by public entities provided insurance and reinsurance for their governmental risks. Its members controlled the company, funded it through premiums and…
PLR 200418017: Replacement employee warrants avoid tax at merger exchange
In a merger, employees holding compensatory warrants to buy subsidiary stock would exchange them for warrants to buy the acquiring company's stock. The original warrants lacked a readily…
PLR 200418016: Foreign subsidiary gets late disregarded entity election relief
A U.S. partnership wholly owned a foreign limited company that intended to be disregarded for federal tax purposes from its formation. The foreign company missed the deadline for filing Form 8832 to…
PLR 200418015: More time to elect disregarded status for foreign company
A U.S. partnership wholly owned a foreign limited company and intended it to be disregarded for federal tax purposes from its formation. The company inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time.…
PLR 200418014: Late entity classification election granted for foreign company
A foreign limited company wholly owned by a U.S. partnership intended to elect disregarded entity treatment from its formation but missed the deadline for Form 8832. The IRS found that the company…
PLR 200418013: Foreign limited company may file late classification election
A U.S. partnership owned a foreign limited company that intended to elect disregarded entity treatment effective from its formation. The foreign company inadvertently missed the Form 8832 deadline.…
PLR 200418012: More time for foreign company to elect disregarded status
A foreign limited company wholly owned by a U.S. partnership intended to be disregarded for federal tax purposes from its formation. It inadvertently did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found…
PLR 200418011: Late disregarded entity election for foreign limited company
A U.S. partnership wholly owned a foreign limited company that intended disregarded entity treatment from its formation. The company inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 by the deadline. The IRS…
PLR 200418010: Hospital's deferred compensation plan and trust receive favorable rulings
A tax-exempt hospital asked about a deferred compensation plan for selected employees and an irrevocable trust holding assets to help pay benefits. The trust's assets remained subject to the…
TAM 200418009: Merged insurers must combine adjusted surplus for special deduction
Two Blue Cross or Blue Shield organizations merged into a new corporation that qualified for the special insurance company deduction under § 833. The new corporation amended its returns to calculate…
TAM 200418008: Subordinated advances treated as equity without deemed dividends
A U.S. company funded its wholly owned foreign subsidiary through subordinated agreements treated as debt under foreign law but as equity on its U.S. tax filings. The agreements had no interest or…
PLR 200418007: Late S election allowed for first operating year
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its first operating year and filed an S corporation return for that year, but it did not timely file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable…
PLR 200418006: More time for S election effective in incorporation year
A corporation's shareholders intended it to be an S corporation from its incorporation date, but no Form 2553 was filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure to make the election.…
PLR 200418005: Estate qualifies for conservation easement tax benefits
After a property owner's death, the trustee of his trust granted a perpetual conservation easement over part of his land to a town conservation fund before the estate tax return was due. The IRS…
PLR 200418004: More time to elect corporate status after foreign entity change
A foreign entity changed its legal form and represented that, from that date, it was eligible to elect classification as a corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes. It inadvertently missed the Form…
PLR 200418003: Trust settlement and division preserve tax treatment
Family members settled a dispute over which descendants counted as beneficiaries of two trusts created from a trust that predated the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax. Their court-approved…
PLR 200418002: Art collection bequest qualifies for full estate tax deduction
A married couple planned to leave their art collection to a museum when the survivor died, with a charitable foundation to receive it if the museum declined. An agreement governed where the works…
PLR 200418001: Utility must remove related deferred tax reserve from rate base
A regulated electric utility removed certain property from its rate base after an audit and excluded the related depreciation from its regulated expense calculations. A state department wanted the…
PLR 200417035: Healthcare affiliates retain tax exemption under revised affiliation agreement
The parent of an integrated healthcare system revised its affiliation agreements to strengthen its oversight of member organizations. It asked whether the changes would affect the organizations' tax…
PLR 200417034: IRS waives IRA rollover deadline after family death and account error
An IRA owner withdrew funds intending to move them to another IRA. After a death in his family interrupted a trip, he sent funds to a financial company that placed them in a non-IRA investment…
PLR 200417033: IRS denies rollover waiver for IRA withdrawals used for expenses
During a period of intermittent unemployment, an IRA owner took three partial distributions to pay personal expenses, including tuition. After obtaining permanent employment, the owner asked the IRS…
CCA 200417032: Summoned bank receives regulatory rates for stored records
A bank asked the IRS to cover the full amount charged by an independent storage company to retrieve records requested by a summons. Chief Counsel advised that the storage company's costs count as…
PLR 200417031: Corporation may make late S election within 60 days
A corporation's shareholders intended it to be an S corporation from its formation, but its Form 2553 election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted…
PLR 200417030: Settlement trust qualifies for estate tax marital deduction
A surviving spouse and a charity disputed how a decedent's trust and marital agreements affected the spouse's rights. They reached a court approved settlement that funded a trust for the spouse's…
PLR 200417029: Consolidated group gets more time to waive loss carryback
A consolidated group intended to waive the carryback period for its consolidated net operating loss, but failed to file a valid election with its return. The IRS found that the parent reasonably…
PLR 200417028: Late S election recognized from corporation's formation
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its incorporation date, but it did not file its S election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under…
PLR 200417027: Late S election treated as effective on incorporation date
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation status from its incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and granted relief under…
PLR 200417026: Late S election treated as effective on incorporation date
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation status from its incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and granted relief under…
PLR 200417025: Foreign entity gets extension for disregarded status election
A U.S. partnership wholly owned a foreign limited company that intended to be disregarded for federal tax purposes from its formation date. The company failed to file its entity classification…
PLR 200417024: LLC receives extensions for corporate and S elections
A single owner LLC intended to be taxed as a corporation and as an S corporation from a specified date, but it missed the filing deadlines for both elections. The IRS granted a 60-day extension…
PLR 200417023: Foreign entity gets extension for disregarded status election
A U.S. partnership wholly owned a foreign limited company that intended to be disregarded for federal tax purposes from its formation date. The company failed to file its entity classification…
PLR 200417022: Electronic expense process qualifies as accountable plan
An employer proposed using business credit card data and an online system to review employee travel and entertainment expenses. Employees would identify business purposes, submit expense reports…
PLR 200417021: Corporation receives relief after CPA missed S election
A corporation's president and sole shareholder intended an S corporation election from a specified date, as reflected in meeting minutes. The corporation's CPA did not file Form 2553. The IRS found…
PLR 200417020: Separation of two businesses qualifies for tax free treatment
An S corporation planned to place one of its two operating businesses in a new subsidiary and distribute all of the subsidiary's stock to its shareholders. It said the separation would protect that…
PLR 200417019: Separation of two businesses qualifies for tax free treatment
An S corporation planned to place one of its two operating businesses in a new subsidiary and distribute all of the subsidiary's stock to its shareholders. It said the separation would protect that…
PLR 200417018: Separation of two businesses qualifies for tax free treatment
An S corporation planned to place one of its two operating businesses in a new subsidiary and distribute all of the subsidiary's stock to its shareholders. It said the separation would protect that…
PLR 200417017: Separation of two businesses qualifies for tax free treatment
An S corporation planned to place one of its two operating businesses in a new subsidiary and distribute all of the subsidiary's stock to its shareholders. It said the separation would protect that…
PLR 200417016: Separation of two businesses qualifies for tax free treatment
An S corporation planned to place one of its two operating businesses in a new subsidiary and distribute all of the subsidiary's stock to its shareholders. It said the separation would protect that…
PLR 200417015: Separation of two businesses qualifies for tax free treatment
An S corporation planned to place one of its two operating businesses in a new subsidiary and distribute all of the subsidiary's stock to its shareholders. It said the separation would protect that…
PLR 200417014: Trust changes preserve GST status and permit S trust elections
Trustees planned to seek court approval to sell residential property held by a corporation owned by two family trusts, then replace beneficiaries' rights to use the property with income and unitrust…
PLR 200417013: LLC gets more time to elect corporate classification
A single member LLC intended to be classified as a corporation for federal tax purposes from its formation date. It failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the requirements for a…
PLR 200417012: Funds may revoke year end excise tax calculation election
Eleven regulated investment company funds had elected to use their December tax year ends instead of October 31 to calculate capital gain net income for the § 4982 required distribution. They said…
PLR 200417011: Group gets extension for nuclear decommissioning fund election
An affiliated group omitted an election statement and revised schedule of ruling amounts from its consolidated return for a nuclear decommissioning reserve fund. Its parent said a restructuring…
PLR 200417010: Group gets extension for nuclear decommissioning fund election
An affiliated group omitted an election statement and revised schedule of ruling amounts from its consolidated return for a nuclear decommissioning reserve fund. Its parent said a restructuring…
PLR 200417009: Group gets extension for nuclear decommissioning fund election
An affiliated group omitted an election statement and revised schedule of ruling amounts from its consolidated return for a nuclear decommissioning reserve fund. Its parent said a restructuring…
PLR 200417008: Group gets extension for nuclear decommissioning fund election
An affiliated group omitted an election statement and revised schedule of ruling amounts from its consolidated return for a nuclear decommissioning reserve fund. Its parent said a restructuring…
PLR 200417007: Modified distribution leaves earlier tax rulings in force
A corporation sought supplemental rulings after changing steps in a planned distribution addressed by an earlier IRS letter under §§ 355 and 368. The changes included a completed debt offering,…
PLR 200417006: Business division qualifies as tax free split off
A corporation proposed transferring part of its operating business to a new subsidiary, then giving all the subsidiary's shares to two shareholders in exchange for all their shares in the original…
TAM 200417005: Traced coal was in export stream when producer sold it
A coal producer sold coal to a broker that processed it before export. The producer sought relief from the § 4121 coal excise tax for coal processed at one plant and actually exported. It conceded…
TAM 200417004: Free sweepstakes winnings are not wagering gains
An individual won a no purchase necessary marketing sweepstakes and reported the installment prize payments as income. The winner sought to use unrelated gambling losses to offset those payments…
PLR 200417003: Division of family trust preserves tax treatment
Trustees proposed dividing one pre-1985 family trust equally into three successor trusts for the children of a deceased beneficiary. The IRS ruled that the proposed division would not create a…
PLR 200417002: Division of family trust preserves tax treatment
Trustees proposed dividing one pre-1985 family trust equally into three successor trusts for the children of a deceased beneficiary. The IRS ruled that the proposed division would not create a…
PLR 200417001: Division of family trust preserves tax treatment
Trustees proposed dividing one pre-1985 family trust equally into three successor trusts for the children of a deceased beneficiary. The IRS ruled that the proposed division would not create a…
PLR 200416015: Waiver permits late rollover of excess IRA distribution
An IRA custodian distributed more than a taxpayer requested to meet a required minimum distribution. The taxpayer missed the 60-day rollover deadline after failing to notice the error while dealing…
What these documents are
- Private letter rulings (PLRs): A taxpayer asked the IRS to rule on a planned transaction before doing it. The ruling shows exactly how the IRS applied the Code to those facts.
- Technical advice memoranda (TAMs): The IRS National Office answering a question raised during an audit or other proceeding.
- Chief Counsel advice (CCAs): IRS lawyers advising their own field staff on how to apply the law.
- Determination letters: Rulings on exempt-organization matters, such as whether an organization qualifies under § 501(c)(3) or a foundation's grant procedures pass § 4945.
- Not precedent, still useful: Under 26 U.S.C. § 6110(k)(3) none of these can be cited as precedent. They remain the best public window into how the IRS actually rules on facts like yours, and practitioners read them for exactly that.